Young Walks Away As Admirals Owners Can't Seal The Deal

May 19, 2004|By WARNER HESSLER Daily Press

NORFOLK — The minor-league hockey team is likely to go dormant for a year after sale negotiations with Tides owner Ken Young fall apart.

The proposed sale of the Norfolk Admirals to Ken Young fell apart Tuesday morning over money, leaving the future of the American Hockey League franchise in limbo and both sides pointing a finger at the other.

Young, who also owns baseball's Norfolk Tides, said his four-man group ended its pursuit of the Chicago Blackhawks' affiliate after having received favorable terms on a three-year lease at Norfolk Scope with city officials.

According to Young, Admirals co-owners Mark Garcea and Page Johnson agreed to his group's price two weeks ago. Young said the owners later told him that they planned to go to the Norfolk City Council on Tuesday and ask for money to make up the difference between the agreed-upon price and the amount that they really wanted for the franchise.

Young said Garcea and Johnson told him that if the city didn't agree to chip in, he would be responsible for paying the amount they agreed upon, plus what they were asking Norfolk to pay. Young said that's when he decided to back away.

"There was a significant change,'' Young said of the price he had agreed to and the price the team would cost without a city supplement. "We negotiated a price, and they (Garcea and Johnson) said they wanted to go back and see if the city would supplement it.

"I asked my attorney Monday night to get an offer sheet and make sure we had a firm deal and not just an oral deal. When they (Garcea and Johnson) said we had to come up with the extra amount -- I knew that when they changed the deal that it wasn't going to happen. I think it's dead, now.''

The AHL had given a deadline of Monday to complete the deal.

"Our interest in keeping this great sport for area fans is undiminished, but it has to make financial sense for us to undertake it," Young said. "If the numbers change, we could certainly take another look at it.''

Garcea was attending AHL meetings Tuesday in Springfield, Mass., and could not be reached for comment. But Johnson released a statement that disputed Young's version of why the sale wasn't completed.

"We understand the Norfolk Tides issued a press release earlier today announcing the conclusion of efforts to purchase the Admirals by Ken Young and a group of investors,'' Johnson said. "We have yet to be informed of that by the potential ownership group.

"Over two weeks ago, we reached a verbal agreement with representatives of that group on the sale of the team, and this verbal agreement has not been modified since that time.

"For the sake of the community and the Chicago Blackhawks, we hoped the negotiations with the city and this ownership group would have been successful. Mark and I ignored an offer that was more lucrative in order to keep the team in Norfolk.''

With the deal falling through, and with AHL unlikely to give Garcea more time to declare his intentions for the 2004-05 season, there's a good chance the Admirals will go dormant for a year. In that scenario, Garcea will pay $250,000 to retain membership in the league but won't be eligible to ice a team until the 2005-06 season. A call to AHL Commissioner Dave Andrews was not returned.

"We can't thank the city enough for the efforts it made to try to make it work,'' said Tides' general manager Dave Rosenfield, who would have held the same title with the AHL team. "They were very generous, and all of us are disappointed that we were unable to reach a final agreement. We were excited about the possibilities.'' *